In Rochester, New York, an ad-hoc group is opposing a proposed casino development there.
Called A Better Rochester, the coalition of local clergy, community members, and gaming interests say they don’t want a casino built in downtown Rochester.
Entrepreneur Robert Morgan wants to build a casino with video gaming and an entertainment venue on the site of the shuttered Midtown building. The Seneca Nation of Indians would back the effort and own the casino.
A Better Rochester says a poll it commissioned of local residents shows a majority don’t want a casino built there or anywhere else in Rochester. Other gaming interests don’t want the competition.
The poll of 586 registered Rochester voters and done on May 26 indicates 59 percent said they don’t want a “standalone Native American casino in downtown Rochester.”
Those opposed generally cite social problems, such as problem gaming and potential increased crime, among primary reasons for opposing the casino.
Casino supporters say it would spur the local economy, spur development in downtown Rochester, and create many good-paying jobs in a city badly in need of them.
The Seneca Nation wants to build a 3,000-seat theater and a restricted gaming facility that would employ mostly Rochester-area residents in the city’s poorest locations.
Another proposal from del Lago Resort & Casino owner Thomas Wilmot doesn’t include gaming, but it does call for a performing arts center partly funded with taxpayer dollars.
Wilmot says he would hire about 400 Rochester residents to work at his Lago, Batavia Off-Track Betting, and Finger Lakes Raceway properties and provide free transportation to get them to and from work.
Rochester officials say they have no set timeline for making a decision on the potential casino.
